Cable-carrier apparatus.



G. A. AMSDEN.

CABLE CARRIER APPARATUS. APPLIOATION mum M10. 2, 1908.

1,065,893, I Patented June 24, 1913.

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G; A. AMSDEN.

CABLE CARRIER APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED D120. 2, 1908. 1,065,893, Patented June 24,1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. AMSDEN, 0F LITTLETON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO LAMSON COM- PANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CABLE-CARRIER APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 24, 1913.

Application filed December 2, 1908. Serial No. 465,752.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. AMSDEN, of Littleton, in the county of MiddleseX and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Cable- Carrier Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cable carrier apparatus and its object is to construct and adopt such systems for installation in such a manner that the way stations occupy a minimum of space at the same time being convenient and within easy reach of the operator, while the main lines are located over-head and do not occupy valuable space. This is accomplished by dropping both the out-going and iii-going tracks at each way station forming a vertical drop loop readily accessible to the operators and from which carriers may be despatched and received and through which carriers may pass in opposite directions during transit to other stations. The drop station forms a single turn at its lower end thereby requiring the use of one pulley only for supporting each oppositely moving portion of the driving cable.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated a construction embodying my invention, in which,

Figure l is a front elevation of one of the drop loop or way stations showing the mechanism for despatching and receiving carriers. F 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 2, while F ig. 3 is an opposite side elevation of the same looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 3.

A represents the outgoing tracks from the main or cashiers station supported and held in alinement by suitable brackets B, while D represents the in-going or return tracks to the main station supported by similar brackets E. Both the said tracks A and B are dropped forming a loop or clerks station and which are supported at their lower turn by the standard E and bracket E. At the upper turns of said loop the main tracks A form a 90 degree bend and are supported by the corner brackets F and F, while the tracks D make a similar bend and are supported by the corner brackets G at the down turn of said track, while the up turn of said track at the main track level is supported by the corner bracket F.

C represents the usual driving cable, the outward moving portion as indicated by the arrow, being located adjacent to tracks A, while the inward moving portion of the cable, as indicated by the arrow, is located adjacent to the tracks D. The cable C is also dropped at the loop following the tracks A and D, the outward moving portion of the cable C at the bottom of the loop or way station being supported by a single pulley H journaled in the bracket E, the inward moving portion of said cable C being supported by a single pulley H also journaled in said bracket E. The ingoing tracks D have openings J for placing carriers in cooperation with said tracks for despatching the same, and are positionally off-set from the tracks A to permit easy access thereto, while the inward moving portion of the cable C is diverted along said tracks by an idler or pulley J journaled in the bracket J adjacent pulley H. The inward moving portion of the cable C at the main line level makes a 90 degree turn and is supported by the pulleys K and K journaled in brackets G and F respectively. The outward moving portion of the cable at the main line level makes a similar turn and is supported by the pulleys L and L journaled in the corner brackets F and F respectively.

At the drop in the out-going tracks A is located a switch track M by which carriers destined for that station are switched from the said tracks A onto a receiving track N which has a pawl rack O for receiving and retaining the carriers.

As viewed in Fig. l, the carriers descending upon the right hand track A are switched laterally and yet still downwardly from said track over the switch track M; pins or guides P on the carriers Q entering the spaces R in the tracks M and thereby freeing the carrier from track A in a known manner; moving it laterally away from the cable from which it had been just previously disconnected. The carrier descending switch M follows a determined path which is well spaced from said cable so that by no chance can it become inadvertently re'e'ngaged therewith. The recciving tracks N also constitutes a part of this path and is looped around upwardly in order that the speed of the carrier may be gradually checked, while the pawl-rack O, latches or hooks up the carrier at substantially the uppermost point to which it may ascend upon this up turned portion of the track N. I

Carriers to be despatched to the main or cashiers static-11 are inserted through openings J into cooperation with tracks D, the cable C causing the same to be transmitted along said tracks t the main station. Carriers from other stations in transit to the main or cashiers station follow the tracks I), being driven by the cable C down through the drop or way station thence to the main level to the cashiers station. Carriers in transit along tracks A from the main or cashiers to way stations are driven by the outward moving portion of the cable C along said tracks and through the drop loops or way stations, any carriers being destined to the station shown engage and are diverted by switch tracks M on to the receiving tracks N by momentum, after being released from the cable, said carriers being engaged by pawl rack O which retain the same until they are removed from the positions shown in the drawings. The carriers may be removed by the operator by moving the same through the open terminal X of the receiving track N.

Having thus described my invention and set forth a construction embodying the same, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a cable carrier apparatus, a way comprising forwarding and return tracks, means for supporting the tracks in close parallel relation, a carrier to travel on the way, an endless motor cable to propel the carrier along the way, a drop loop formed in the way extending at right angles from the same comprising closely associated narrow elongated U-shaped track-sections, means in the track-section of the forwarding member of the drop loop to deliver the carrier from the way, and means in the track-section of the return member of the drop loop to admit the carrier to the way.

2. In a cable carrier apparatus, a way comprising forwarding and return tracks, means for supporting the tracks in close parallel relation, a carrier to travel on the way, an endless motor cable to propel the carrier along the way, a drop loop formed in the way extending at right angles from the same comprising closely associated narrow elongated U-shaped track-sections with the one of the arms of the return tracksection offset between the arms of the forwarding track-section, means in the forwarding track-section of the drop loop to deliver the carrier from the way, and means in the offset arm of the return track-section of the drop loop to admit the carrier to the way.

3. In a cable carrier apparatus, an elevated way having a drop station disposed at a distance relatively remote from the way proper, said way comprising both forward ing and return tracks, means for supporting said forwarding tracks substantially in parallel relation to said return tracks, a carrier to travel on the way, continuously driven flexible means for raising said carrier substantially vertically from the level of said station to that of the way proper and thereafter propelling said carrier along said way, means located at a determined point for interrupting propulsive engagement between said carrier and the part of said flexible means with which said carrier is in engagement when it encounters said engagement interrupting means, said last mentioned means including provisions for displacing said carrier laterally with respect to the normal path of travel of said part at such point and for thereafter guidedly directing the movement of the disengaged carrier in a determined path, said continuously driven flexible means having a portion thereof running through said drop station, which portion raises the carrier from the lower to the higher level in manner aforesaid, said determined path being spaced from said portion to obviate any possibility of operative reengagement between said portion and the so disengaged carrier at any time while the latter is traversing any part of said determined path and means, other than the ways or guides determining said path, for supporting said carrier in said path.

t. In a cable carrier apparatus, an elevated way having a drop station disposed at a distance relatively remote from the way proper, said way comprising both forward ing and return tracks, means for supporting said forwarding tracks substantially in parallel relation to said return tracks, a carrier to travel on the way, continuously driven flexible means for raising said carrier substantially ver tically from the level of said station to that of the way proper and thereafter propelling said carrier along said way, and means located at a determined point for interrupting propulsive engagement between said carr er and the part of said flexible means with which said carrier is in engagement when it encounters said engagement-interrupt ng means, said last mentioned means including provisions for displacing said carrier laterally with respect to the normal path of travel of said part at such point and for thereafter guidedly directing the movement of the disengaged carrier in a determined path, said continuously driven flexible means having a portion thereof running through said drop station, which portion raism the carrier from the lower to the higher level in manner aforesaid, said determined path being spaced from said portion to obviate any possibility of operative reengagement between said portion and the so disengaged carrier at any time while the latter is traversing any part of said determined path, said path extending laterally but downwardly for a part at least of the length thereof.

5. In a cable carrier apparatus, an elevated way having a drop station disposed at a distance relatively remote from the way proper, said way comprising both forwarding and return tracks, means for supporting said forwarding tracks substantially in parallel relation to said return tracks, a carrier to travel on the way, continuously driven flexible means for raising said carrier substantially vertically from the level of said station to that of the way proper and thereafter propelling said carrier along said way, and means located at a determined point for interrupting propulsive engagement between said carrier and the part of said flexible means with which said carrier is in engagement when it encounters said engagementinterrupt ing means, said last mentioned means including provisions for displacing said carrier laterally with respect to the normal path of travel of said part at such point and for thereafter guidedly directing the movement of the disengaged carrier in a determined path, said continuously driven flexible means having a portion thereof running through said drop station, which portion raises the carrier from the lower to the higher level in manner aforesaid, said determined path being spaced from said por tion to obviate any possibility of operative reengagement between said portion and the so disengaged carrier at any time while the latter is traversing any part of said determined path, said path extending laterally but downwardly for a part at least of the length thereof and being looped upwardly thereafter to gradually check the speed of the carrier upon its arrival at said station.

6. In a cable carrier appa'atus, an elevated way having a drop station disposed at a distance relatively remote from the way proper, said way comprising both forward ing and return tracks, means for supporting said forwarding tracks substantially in parallel relation to said return tracks, a carrier to travel on the way, continuously driven flexible means for raising said carrier substantially verti 'ally from the level of said station to that of the way proper and thereafter propelling said carrier along said ay, and means located at a determined point for interrupting propulsive engagement between said carrier and the part of said flexible means with which said carrier is in engagement when it encounters said engagement-interrupting means, said last mentioned means including provisions for displacing said carrier laterally with respect to the normal path of travel of said part at such point and for thereafter guidedly directing the movement of the disengaged carrier in a determined path, said continuously driven flexible means having a portion thereof running through said drop station, which portion raises the carrier from the lower to the higher level in manner aforesaid, said determined path being spaced from said portion to obviate any possibility of operative reengagement between said portion and the so disengaged carrier at any time while the latter is traversing any part of said determined path, said path extending laterally but downwardly for a part at least of the length thereof and being looped upwardly thereafter to gradually check the speed of the carrier upon its arrival at said station, said upturned part of said path having provisions for preventing a downward return movement of the carrier there through.

7. In a cable carrier apparatus, an elevated way having a drop station disposed at a distance relatively remote from the Way proper, said way comprising both forwarding and return tracks, means for supporting said forwarding tracks substantially in parallel relation to said return tracks, a carrier to trawl on the way, continuously driven flexible means for raising said carrier substantially vertically from the level of said station to that of the way proper and thereafter propelling said carrier along said way. and means located at a determined point for interrupting propulsive engagement between said carrie' and the part of said flexible means with which said carrier is in engagement when it encounters said engagement-interrupting means, said last mentioned means including provisions for displacing said carrier laterally with respect to the normal path of travel of said part at such point and for thereafter guidedly directing the movement of the disengaged carrier in a detern'iined path, said continuously driven flexible means having a portion thereof running through said drop station, which portion raises the arrier from the lower to the higher level, both said forwarding and return tracks extending downwardly to said station and thence upwardly therefrom.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this twelfth day of November A. D. 1908.

GEORGE A. AMSDEN.

Vitnesses:

M. F. Goonnitr, A. L. MEssER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

